


Borrowed Seconds

by Milkteach



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: F/M, Gen, Introspection, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:29:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21916780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milkteach/pseuds/Milkteach
Summary: Sasuke has seen  many a strange things, but he wasn't ready for this. This image of his wife still in her youth, fragile as the petals she was named after.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 4
Kudos: 117





	Borrowed Seconds

He watches her from afar. Punch after punch as each trees she targets get reduced into mere splinters. Uchiha Sasuke, under the guise of a worn out traveler observes a 13 year old Haruno Sakura train herself in reckless abandon. 

He holds his tongue. Sasuke knows from future references his wife doesn't like to be told she can't, but shes nearing Chakra depletion and he needs to intervene sooner than later. The audible pops and the involuntary way her shoulders rise because of pain, tell him she's resetting her bones. He chooses his next words carefully. " You look like you need a rest". He feigns nonchalance as he studies the compass in his hand, a prop more than a tool. He knows this forest like the back of his hand. 

She turns to where he sits. Sasuke is confident in his henge but sometimes Sakura would give him a look he only ever sees in her when she's unconvinced with Sarada's excuses for being out late. He can't help but question if he hid himself enough.   
He wonders if she sees the shape of his mother's eyes or the thin set of his father's mouth. Without refuting and much to Sasuke's ease , Sakura takes a seat from across the fire he has just began stoking.

Dusk has bid its goodbye as the night settled. The sharp chill of late autumn hovers over them like a heavy blanket. She takes a long drink from her water jug and stares blankly at the fire's gentle embers. Its auburn shadows dancing across her face, new and familiar all at once. Sasuke has seen many a strange things but he wasn't quite ready for this, this image of his wife still in her youth,fragile as the petals she was named after. There's an overwhelming impulse to run back to the Sakura of his time and confess this intrusion of her most private moments. By reason he shouldn't be here. 

"Sasuke-kun doesn't like it whenever we ask him to light our camp fire.

Sasuke startles at the sound of his own name.

Deeply lost in thought, she warms her hands near the fire. He gets a good view of an awkwardly straight right knuckle, red and inflamed from being manipulated. Once his wife told him resetting bones required natural methods, " Otherwise, you'll just end up fusing deformed ones, Sasuke-kun" , her voice a near memory.

" He always says, "you're trained shinobi, make your own". Sakura chortles at her poor imitation of him... " We must have annoyed him a lot...", she sighs.

Shame blooms inside his chest in the same space guilt and atonement thrive. Sasuke wants to say he's an idiot of a child and he's so so sorry he pushed them away when every fiber of his being pulled him home. They were mere children forced to grow ahead of their bones because the world suddenly became too big. Too cruel. He wants to vow right then and there , that in this borrowed second and in their future, she doesn't even have to ask, he'd warm her in a heartbeat.

But these are words not to be spoken of ahead of their time.So he offers the only truth this Sakura in front of him has to accept . 

"Sounds like that's one selfish brat" 

"He's.." Sakura frowns but says no more.  
And Sasuke is glad. It's too much to hear her defend his honor , not when he least deserves it.

" I just hope he's safe" She says after a few seconds of forlorn silence. That hollow space beneath his ribs throbs yet again as guilt calls a familiar echo. 

"You worry about a boy who's so lost he doesn't even realize it. That's a foolish..." The moment those words flew out of his mouth, Sasuke understood he committed a grave error. From the tensed way Sakura held her shoulders to grim set of her mouth, he knew it was too late to take everything back

" If I wanted your opinion, Mr. Traveler, I would have asked for it.", the young girl replied cuttingly. To say Sakura was appalled is being kind. The sheer audacity of this outsider to lecture her when he knows nothing. She feels angry. She feels belittled. Even more so when this man responded with mere silence, not even giving her a glance. Sakura then decides she's had enough. 

" You think this is still some girlish fantasy of mine, don't you. That I'm just a silly girl pining over a boy". She laughs bereft of her easy humor

" I never said..", Sasuke interjects

"You don't have to! I hear it from them every day. Every day! And I'm sick of it..."

For the first time since the night of Sasuke's betrayal, Sakura felt the acute sense of being alone. She knows it's unfair to her team loyal as they are. They stayed. They stay. Naruto most of all. But he is too forgiving to even bother asking where it all went wrong. And Kakashi.. Kakashi would rather bear the secrets and the blame. Sakura is left with neither forgiveness nor answers. What is there left to do but to pour her heart out to this man, with his ancient eyes, a stranger in so many ways. It's as desperate as it was easy.   
  
"Worry, you say?", she scoffs. These adults, always harping on about how they know better. Why can't they trust that she knows her own heart? Worry is over small cuts and late mission reports. Worry means nothing that a good sleep can't solve. Worry seems like an insult. 

"Sasuke is gone and he might never come back."  
No, she is not worried.   
She is in pain.   
  
Sasuke sees it. Yet again he's overcome with the need to ask for forgiveness but here is the chance to finally say what he should have the night he left home. Comfort and truth often don't come in pairs. He didn't do it right the first time but he'd willingly try again if only she'd listen long enough to let him offer her both. When she stops to catch her breath, Sasuke realizes his opportunity has come. 

With practiced diplomacy born out of constant marital discussions, he speaks, "Your friend made his choice... and I promise you he'll regret it until the end of his days but you...You're strong, Sakura. Don't ever doubt it . You're where you're supposed to be, home with your precious people. So get stronger. Take care of yourself and let the boy find his own way back." Sasuke knows it's unwise to give this much away. After all, the golden rule of time traveling is simple yet absolute. Change nothing. Who knows how much this small ripple of a decision can cost? 

Meanwhile the recipient of such unsolicited advice is rendered speechless. Sakura is at lost for this turn of events. She was already expecting to be ridiculed. One can only imagine her shock at hearing those words she never thought she needed to hear. Now at an impasse, Sakura wishes for space. "I'm going to train some more". She grabs an empty water jug and walks straight to the river, leaving Sasuke all alone with his thoughts, the worst place he could be. He takes out an onigiri from his pack, a poor excuse as a peace offering for the turmoil he caused her. Cold, he could only wait. 

Not a few minutes later. He sees Sakura stomping her way towards him. Her face looks grimy, red-rimmed eyes looking far more determined than before. 

"I'm sorry". She says tersely. I am sure you mean well, Mr Traveler but , but you really ought to keep out of people's business. It's not very manly... " 

" Agreed. "Sasuke pacifies her. He hands her the onigiri but Sakura hesitates ,pride refusing to submit to hunger. He catches her off guard when he throws it straight to her hands. Hunger winning out in the end, she grudgingly unwraps the food. He fights down a smile. 

Sasuke cannot help but marvel at her innate capability to give second chances when it took him a quarter of a lifetime to even learn he can. He'll make sure to thank Sakura for this gift the second he comes home to her.

They were quiet for a while until Sakura began sharing snippets of her life out of the blue. The first time she revived a fish. The progress she made in her taijutsu. How she and Ino patched things up. All these little milestones. All the things he missed because he was gone. And for once, Uchiha Sasuke allows himself to feel the privilege of being here with her, temporal rules be damned.

Not a moment too soon Boruto arrives with Naruto, the sight an oddity in itself. About to leave, Sasuke gave specific instructions to Boruto on where to find him. He turns to have one last look at Sakura now asleep next to Naruto

"Thank you. " He whispers before disappearing into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Been a while. :)  
> All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto


End file.
